Drug arrests

The Times Union published a story today about the rise of some drugs, particularly heroin, in the area. Here in Saratoga Springs, it’s been an eventful summer for police, who have arrested an alleged right-wing supremacist, a man who allegedly kidnapped a woman off Walnut Street, two alleged members of a violent gang based in El Salvador, two people for alleged gun play in the Adelphi Hotel and more.
On the drug side of things, two big cocaine busts stand out above others. A few weeks ago, city police arrested professional jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. for allegedly possessing 12 grams of cocaine and intending to sell at least some of it. A lesser-known but still significant arrest was that of Daniel McKenzie of Allen Drive last week. City police allegedly found 4.7 grams of cocaine and two baggies of marijuana in his vehicle on Crescent Street last week. He was charged with two felonies – possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and possession of a controlled substance, aggrevated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. McKenzie, 40, is being held in county jail on $25,000 cash, the same amount Arroyo was held on before he was recently released. McKenzie is due back in court on Sept. 24.
Anecdotally, have you encountered or noticed signs of more illegal drugs in the city this summer?

MORE illegal drugs? Certainly not. But that doesn’t mean their isn’t a good quotient of them out there. On many weekends, you can go to the john of most Caroline Street bars, wipe a finger along the back of the cistern and find yourself the remaining residue of the last cokehead who took a toot. This is something that is emblematic of the track season and the fact that we have 50-something restaurants/bars in the city. When there’s no meet, usually the drug trade in the restaurants is easily enough ignored(usually the workers are a bit more discrete than the tourons). It’s when the two coincide, that’s when you start seeing it a lot more than normal.

But to sum things up, I don’t think this summer is any different than last…and the fact that the police are making a big deal about GRAMS of coke is pretty hilarious, when there are plenty of people moving OUNCES of the drug right beneath their noses(no pun intended). But those are arrests you won’t see during racing season, lest the tourists too ignorant to realize there’s a drug trade be brought into the light. There’s a whitewash slapped on this town in late July, and the city does its best to keep it clean until the meet is over.